Speaking Engagements

Photo by Danny Ngan

Photo by Rich Lawrence

Paul is an accomplished public speaker in addition to being a professional photographer and conservationist. This unique skillset combination has made Paul a sought after keynote speaker for events all over North America. From National Audubon’s first national convention in more than a decade, to birding festivals across the United States, from scientific conferences to non-profit fundraisers, Paul’s keynote presentations have met with exceedingly positive reviews.

His programs combine breathtaking photos, compelling videos, evocative audio, the latest science and first-person stories from the field delivered with passion and an interactive style that keeps the toughest audiences engaged. Paul’s emphasis on natural history, surprising inter-relationships, habitat and conservation help ensure that his programs are as informative as they are spellbinding. He is equally effective and experienced with large groups of more than 500 to smaller intimate groups.

The breadth and depth of his image library allow him to conduct a wide range of unique and ever-evolving programs so that many people return for multiple presentations.

Paul can deliver any of the many existing programs, or he can create custom presentations on natural history themes, particularly those dealing with birds and habitat. some of Paul’s most popular programs include:

Owl: A Year In The Lives of North American Owls

Award winning photographer Paul Bannick is presenting a new program featuring video, sound, stories from the field and several dozen new images from his brand-new book: Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls. Paul uses intimate yet dramatic images to follow owls through the course of one year and in their distinct habitats.

Audiences will witness the four seasons on territory, as each stage in an owl’s life is chronicled through rare images: courtship, mating, and nesting in spring; fledging and feeding of young in summer; dispersal and gaining independence in fall; and, finally, winter’s migrations and competitions for food.

His program shows how owls use the unique resources available to them in each habitat to face those challenges. All 19 species found in Canada and the United States are featured in photos, video and narrative throughout the book, with a special focus on the Northern Pygmy-Owl, Great Gray Owl, Burrowing Owl, and Snowy Owl.

Owl is a stunning follow-up to Bannick’s bestselling title, The Owl and the Woodpecker, giving bird lovers yet another gorgeous photographic tribute, engaging natural history, and a compelling call to preserve the habitats that sustain these most iconic of birds.

Nearly ten years of working in some of the most remote parts of the continent, at the darkest hours of the day, tracking owls as they move through their lives has rewarded Paul with striking images that he uses in his book and presentations. His program can broadly focus on North America or they can be customized for states, geographic regions or habitats such as the Arctic Tundra, Boreal Forests, Western Mountains Dry Forests, Temperate Forests, Mountain Meadows, Oak Habitats, Deserts, Shrub-steppe, Grasslands, and Eastern Forests.

Examples include:

Owl: A Year in the Lives of North American Owls

Owl: A Year in the Lives of California Owls

Owl: A Year in the Lives of owls of the Shrub-steppe

Snowy Owl: A Year in the Life of the Arctic Ghost

Owls and Woodpeckers of North America

Paul’s presentations on owls and woodpeckers take audiences on a visual and auditory exploration of habitats of North America through the owls and woodpeckers that most define and enrich these places. This photographic field report celebrates the ways the lives of these two iconic birds are intertwined with one another, and their role as keystone and indicator species for their environment. Audiences are immersed in the sights and sounds of forest, grassland, arctic, and desert, and in the entertaining and informative details of Paul’s narrative. The hidden life of these birds is obvious for those who know how to find it. Paul knows how to find it, and how to bring it to life for his audiences through photos, sound, and story.

Paul has developed a new program titled “The Owl and The Woodpecker Revisited” which uses entirely new photos, information and stories gleaned from the several years since Owl and Woodpecker’s release, while following the same themes.

Examples include:

The Owl and the Woodpecker Revisited

Owls and Woodpeckers of North America

Owls and Woodpeckers of The Pacific Northwest

Owls and Woodpeckers of The West

Owls and Woodpeckers of Any North American Region, State, or Habitat

Owls of Any North American Region

Woodpeckers of Any North American Region

Woodpeckers of North America

Drawing upon 15 years of studying and photographing woodpeckers, Paul presents various multimedia woodpecker presentations and workshops that can be based upon species, families, geography or habitat.

Examples include:

Woodpeckers of North America

Woodpeckers of California

Woodpeckers of the Intermountain West

Birds by Season and Habitat

Paul takes audiences on a multimedia journey across seasons and habitats where birds are the actors. Through intimate images, this presentation examines the sometimes surprising, often dramatic, and always engaging behavior of the birds through distinct times and places. This stunning photographic study is accompanied by stories and rich natural history derived from thousands of hours in the field, and looks at the way key indicator species define and enrich their habitat and how their life histories are intertwined. Audiences will travel with the birds through courtship, mating and nesting in the spring; summer’s busy months of fledging and feeding; independence and dispersal in the fall; and winter’s struggle to survive. Anyone interested in birdlife amidst North America’s wonderful natural settings is sure to be enthralled by this extraordinary program.

Examples include:

Birds by Habitat and Season in the Pacific Northwest

Birds by Habitat and Season in the West

Birds by Habitat and Season in Any North American Region or State

Birds of Latin America

From the Pacific to Atlantic, and the mountains to lowlands, the jewel-bright feathered
denizens of the Latin America are captured with breathtakingly intimate detail in Paul’s photos
and stories. As with all Paul’s presentations, the focus is on the relationship between the birds
and their habitat. Paul’s insight, gained through many hours in the field, will familiarize the
strange and show audiences how the familiar becomes exotic when looked through the right
lens. Audiences will gain an enhanced appreciation for the beauty, variety, and natural history
of some of the world’s most beautiful birds.

“Paul Bannick is a gifted, inspired, and technically superb photographer. He is also a man who can draw an audience into his closely and carefully observed world. An energetic and knowledgeable speaker, Paul wants every individual in the room to get as close to his experience in the wild as he can bring them through word, sound and image. We love hearing the stories that accompany these photographs because they bring us close to a world he has taken the time and care to understand and document.”

“Among the many public programs that bring one into the more intimate moments in Nature, Paul Bannick’s visual and narrative presentations are among the very best. In much of Bannick’s work, and because of his patience and exceptional skills as a photographer, one discovers the recording of activity of our wild companions that was heretofore unknown. As part of his audience I’ve been inspired by the elegance and the information conveyed in both his images and his informed and original commentary.”

– Tony Angell, award-winning artist and writer, co-author and illustrator of In the Company of Crows and Ravens and author of Puget Sound Through the Artist’s Eye and several other books. Seattle, Washington

“Paul is one of the finest speakers we’ve had at Gonzaga University. As Paul makes so clear, the animals are beautiful but so is the habitat needed to sustain them… Paul’s presentation gives a sense of excitement and awe of nature as if we were seeing Owls and Woodpeckers for the very first time. This is a presentation that people will remember for years to come.”

“Paul Bannick ranks as one of the most gifted interpreters of our region’s famed natural heritage. His presentations feature beautiful photographs of the area’s wildlife, all his own, coupled with a brilliant soundtrack. Paul’s delivery is accurate, punctuated with humor, and inspirational. Further, as an ardent conservationist, a clear environmental message comes through to spur his audience to love and protect the beautiful natural subjects he depicts. I’ll wager quite a sum, anybody interested in the wild will be enthralled with Paul’s programs.”

“Boulder County Audubon members were so entranced by Paul’s talk on owls and woodpeckers that we invited him back for a second time. The photos are stunning, and Paul’s passion for relationships in nature evoke the wonder of the web of life.”

– Stephen Jones, author of The Last Prairie, a Sandhills Journal and Peterson Field Guide to the North American Prairie
Boulder, Colorado

“Although every wildlife photographer now calls themselves a conservation photographer, [Paul does] the BEST job of anyone I have heard or read in connecting the dots between interconnected species and a compelling rationale for preserving and protecting adequate habitat so they can thrive.”

“I was told that Paul was a fine speaker and his photos jaw-dropping. They were right. It is not often that someone lives up to the hype. But Paul exceeded expectations. Owls, woodpeckers and other wild critters are lucky to have such a talented advocate. A truly outstanding presentation—photos and text.”

– Tom Scribner, President, Blue Mountain Audubon, Walla Walla, WA

“Paul Bannick’s presentation was so popular that we asked him to make a return engagement. This guy has spent a lot of time in wild places, knows his wildlife, and has a deep passion for birds, habitats and their conservation. Paul is a brilliant teacher who punctuated his lesson with a conservation message – that these beautiful creatures are under constant pressure to survive and need our help. The Owl and the Woodpecker is more than a coffee table book of beautiful bird photos. And Paul’s presentation is more than a nature slide show. It is an intersection of stark natural beauty, breathtaking photographic art, and brilliant lessons in conservation. I look forward to my next opportunity to see it again.”

“The audience was transfixed. Paul must have selected the best from a number of photos but to have so many “bests” spoke to the patience, endurance and skill of the photographer. I think Paul could have gone on for another hour without losing anyone. We all would attend a repetition should we have the opportunity.”

– Herb Wisner, Program Chairman, Lane County Audubon, Eugene, OR

“Paul presents a high quality, educational, relevant program that grabs your attention and leaves you in awe of all things living. His superb images of the living world cause one to realize that life is powerful, from the intense yellow eyes of the Great Gray Owl, to the electric sapphire blue plumage of the Mountain Bluebird to the spectacular speed of a Rufous Hummingbird, all these speak to a living, vibrant world that will reach out and pull you in.”

– Mike Denny – Author, Naturalist and Riparian Habitat Specialist, co-author of Where the Great River Bends: A Natural and Human History of the Columbia at Wallula, Birds of the Inland Northwest and Northern Rockies, and Birds of Interior BC and the Rockies
Walla Walla, Washington

“If you have a chance to hear Paul Bannick, take it. He’s one of those rare presenters who weaves together all the right ingredients for a superb program that is both entertaining and educational for beginners, experts and everyone in between.”

“Paul Bannick has a rare blend of scientific knowledge, photographic genius and passion for the natural world. I always learn something new from his presentations, and I never tire of watching the audience get drawn into his captivating stories. Paul is able to inspire those who already share his interests, and help others unlock doors to observing ecological relationships. The only challenge I’ve had in working with Paul is the devoted crowd he draws. We had 40 people on the waiting list for his last program and had to turn additional people away due to a packed house.”

“Paul’s program attracted the highest attendance we have ever had at a DFO meeting. One member told me that it was the best program we have had in his ten-plus years as a member. Paul’s spectacular photos highlighted his dramatic anecdotes. Seeing his program helps enhance our understanding of the interdependency of species in the natural world.”

– Lynn Wilcockson, Vice President, Denver Field Ornithologists

“Through his awe inspiring photographs and contagious enthusiasm, Paul Bannick had our audiences and gallery visitors wonderfully entertained. But more importantly, he helped them understand the need for habitat conservation and to share his appreciation for the beauty of nature and its amazing adaptations.”